Tom Hanks Biography

By Mark Avery

Tom Hanks is a beloved star for many movie fans. He appeared in plenty of blockbusters including Splash, Big, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, and all of the Toy Story movies.

He started out performing in the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Ohio during the year 1977. Later, he would move to New York City to try his hand at acting. Tom Hanks then starred in a TV sitcom called Bosom Buddies, which would lead him to even more successful films.

Tom Hanks became an American icon. He is on many famous top ten lists and is widely recognised for his talents. Overall, he is the most powerful, well-respected, and critically acclaimed actor in all of Hollywood.

Hanks is a part of many now adults’ childhoods at this point. As a pop culture icon, many people know his face and voice- so you might want to learn more about him for the next time you see him appear on your screen.

We have covered all of his most famous roles and interesting facts about this star in this biography. This book is a must-read for any Tom Hanks fan out there.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark Avery
• Release date: Jan 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005984335

Mark Avery

Mark Avery has combined bird watching with a career as a biologist. Since graduating from Cambridge University he has studied at Oxford and Aberdeen Universities and worked on Great Tit song, food-hoarding by Marsh Tits, foraging and social behaviour of Bee-eaters and hibernation of pipistrelle bats. Mark joined the RSPB staff in 1986 to work in the Flow Country and is now a Senior Research Biologist for the Society working on scientific aspects of land-use, international and marine issues.

Book preview

Tom Hanks Biography

Chapter 1: Early Life and Childhood

Thomas Jeffery Hanks was born on July 9th, 1956 in Concord, California to Janet Marylyn Frager and Amos Mefford Hanks. His parents went through a divorce when he was just 5 years old, after which he was raised by his father with his older siblings.

Due to the divorce, Hanks’ family moved often, until they eventually settled in Oakland, California. It was here where Hanks attended high school, graduating in 1974. Tom Hanks went on to the junior college in Hayward, where he took up an acting degree after being inspired by Eugene O’Neill’s performance in The Iceman Cometh. He later transferred into the theater program at California State University.

During his time in college, Hanks participated in the summer session of the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Lakewood, Ohio. After taking part for the first time in 1977, Hanks returned for the next three summers to work on the productions of Shakespeare’s famous plays.

Hanks even won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in 1978 for his performance of Proteus from The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Today, Tom Hanks is best known for his roles in popular films, making him one of the most recognizable actors across